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Portuguese-American Digital Archive (PADA)

The Mission of the Portuguese-American Digital Archive is to identify, collect, and preserve a range of historical and contemporary resources connected to the region's Portuguese-speaking communities for use by students, academics, and the general public. The Archive will make these collections digitally available while expanding the scope of documentation beyond the Merrimack Valley region. The Collection Development Policy will cover the earliest days of the Portuguese attaining a foothold in the United States to the present time. Records types will include organizational archives, immigration documents, and personal collections. The archive will also include visual media, artwork, and music that define the Portuguese community's cultural impact.

    Three people standing in doorway of store named Ostroff & Sousa Co. Windows are filled with hats and dresses.

   Ostroff and Sousa Company, Gorham Street, Lowell, MA. (Photo Lowell Historical Society)

  Picture of Picanso & Sousa Co. Store. Two women in dresses are standing in left doorway. Two men, one sitting, are in right doorway.

  Picanos, Sousa and Company, Gorham Street, Lowell, MA (Photo Lowell Historical Society)